Got my 92 year old mother a new clothes washing machine. The other one just gave up the ghost after 30 years of use.
This is an expensive unit. But it shakes like a crazy. It’s ridiculous. I’ve had washing machines all my life, I know they shake bad when they get off balance. This brand new machine shakes like crazy even when you do a wash with NO clothes in it. The only thing out of balance is the machine itself. Or it’s a horrible design or missing some of the balance springs and such in its guts.
The certified repair guy that got sent over said “No, that’s perfectly normal”. Can’t be, not with just water in it. I call bullshit.
My mom simply won’t have anything to do with it, and want’s to return it. Fine. But I doubt large appliances can be returned. It’s just over a month old now.
I live 100 miles away from my mom. If they won’t take it back, I’m not quite sure what to do. It’s going to be a 4 way battle. Me, Home Depot, Maytag, and the Maytag repair guy. I might get some sympathy from Home Depot if I wheelchair my 92 yo mother in there and demand to talk to the manager.
One of the ‘solutions’ I might suggest is "Run it till it breaks and is still under warrantee’. I think that’s what I would do if it was mine, but my mom can’t deal with that. The thing shakes so much that it’s kinda frightening. I would never take my eyes off of it being worried that it could walk across the floor, break a water line and cause a flood.
Sounds like a shipping restraint was not removed but you would think the repair guy would know that. The last two washers I have bought spin like turbines, really smooth. They are front loaders.
Thanks mixdenny. I’ve looked at a bunch of videos. I understand shipping restraints. But this is a top loader and not sure they have them.
The drum in this washer moves very very easily from side to side and front to back when I give a little push on the drum inside. It almost seems like some part of the dampening system was not installed initially.
As I said I live 100 miles away. And in any case I have the ethics to not try to sell this brand new defective washer.
If Home Depot and Maytag won’t remedy this I think I may call the Maytag repair guy and ask him if he wants it, he can haul it away.
Hard to tell from the description just how bad the vibration is, but I’m going to suggest that this just might be normal. I have a relatively new Maytag top loader that I’m very happy with, and it’s somewhat like you describe – the tub is intentionally designed to sway very easily in multiple directions. When it spins in the final spin cycle, it tends to vibrate more than I would have expected, I suspect partly because the spin speed is exceptionally fast for a top loader, in order to wring out as much water as possible. I noticed this when the installation guys put it through its test sequence, and they said it was completely normal. It doesn’t really bother me (even though the machine is sitting on an upstairs floor, not on concrete in the basement). It’s properly installed in that it sits solidly with no wobble, and certainly has shown no signs of moving across the floor even slightly.
Front loaders have a completely different kind of main bearing as well as anti-vibration systems because of their ultra-high-speed spin.
Mine is that exact model number except “FW1” at the end.
It’s basically the same machine that Sears rebrands as Kenmore Model 22352 with very minor cosmetic changes, and which got very good reviews from someone (IIRC, Consumer Reports). I was regretting that Sears went out of business in Canada, but then discovered that the same machine is actually made by Maytag as the MVWC565FW.
Mine vibrates enough (only on the final high-speed spin) that the control panel is visibly vibrating and I used to worry that something might come loose. But it’s been at least three years and nothing has. In fact it’s been a good reliable high-efficiency machine. I’m fairly sure that there’s nothing wrong with yours, especially if the repair guy is telling you so.
Yeah. But my mother has decided no go, no way. So I have to sort this out.
This machine also has a deep bigger tub than most I have seen. The repair guy said that she cannot wash a double bed sized blanket in it that she has been doing for years in her old one. The repair guy also said that because of new regulations regrading the amount of water it will load up with, it shouldn’t be done. That was another deal breaker for my mom.
How many people take their blankets, even small ones to a commercial laundromat? Serious question.
I’m a hundred miles away on snowy mountain roads. I am the in-between contact for all of this, speaking on my moms behalf. My mom is barely mobile. We tried to get her into a beautiful brand new retirement home but then COVID struck and screwed all that up. Got the deposit back anyway.
Well, if your mother doesn’t want it, that’s a different issue. My basic message here is that from what I know and what I can infer, it’s almost certainly normal behaviour. If you can’t convince her of that or she still isn’t comfortable with it, I guess you have to deal with it.
I think the repair guy is wrong, though there are limits to how big a thing you can stuff into the machine. I have a queen size bed and have no trouble doing most of the bedding. There is also a single bed in the guest room, and I have no trouble washing a thick heavy winter quilt. I would be very, very surprised if it can’t handle an ordinary double bed blanket.
If your machine is identical to mine (which I strongly suspect it is – I don’t think the digit after “FW” means much of anything) then the repair guy is full of shit about the water level claim. The machine should have a “bulky/sheets” setting which I believe adds extra water, but more importantly, the rightmost control should let you set the water level at either “auto sensing” or “deep water wash”. In the latter position, the tub fills as full as possible.
I must admit I did run into a problem trying to wash a queen-size thick heavy winter quilt, which is by far the bulkiest item I have. My previous front-loader couldn’t handle it, either, but I was surprised that this larger tub also can’t handle it. But at least it fills with water and actually washes it. The problem is that it stalls (IIRC) when trying to drain. But if I cancel the wash and then switch it to (I think) “rinse and spin” it will start up again and complete the wash. A bit of a pain, but an improvement over the front-loader since it does manage to actually wash and then rinse the thing, whereas the front loader just liked to throw error codes and sit there blinking at me stupidly.
Your options here are pretty limited. If I were you I would probably do the following:
a. See if she likes it. If she doesn’t like it,
b. Peruse the vendor’s website. Closely examine their return policies, and see if you can find a statement to “commitment to customer satisfaction” (or whatever) that you could quote. And then talk to the retailer and explain the situation. See if they will take it back, on the condition that you will receive credit for it and you will buy a different washer from them. If that doesn’t work,
c. Contact Maytag. Explain the situation. See if they will do something for you. Like above, peruse their website and see if you can find a mission statement or a statement to “commitment to customer satisfaction” that you could quote. If that doesn’t work,
d. Advertise it on Craigslist for 70% of what you paid for it. Potential buyers will want to know why you’re selling it, obviously. I’m not sure what I would say, other than the truth. May have to come down to 50% in order to unload it. Sucks if it gets to this stage, for sure.
Just looked at the Home Depot site about returns. You must contact them within 48 hours if it’s an appliance (it specifically noted washing machines).
I’ll be at my mom’s Saturday to do her taxes. I’ll run the machine again and video it. But I think she’s out of luck.
Never done Craig’s list or any online selling. And I sure am not going to have random strangers going to my mom’s house. Since I think it’s defective, I don’t want to sell it anyway. BUT I mentioned above that the Maytag repairman says it’s fine, and he said to call him anytime. If mom is adamant about this, I may ask If he wants it. I’ll give him a deal.
Thanks for all the suggestions, and letting me bend your ear.
This is something the installers should have done, and a repair person should have checked, but I’m mentioning it just in case, because the symptoms fit.
Check that the machine is level in all directions. If it isn’t level, or very close, it will get unbalanced every time. If that’s the problem, adjust the leveling feet until it’s level side to side and front to back.
We have a Kenmore. It’s located at a spot where there’s a dip in our floor, and it vibrates like crazy. We’re afraid it’s going to drop through the floor. We started putting a pile of water bottle packages on one corner to balance it out. It has been working so far.
